Juggling her role as a mother and a village nurse is something that 38-year-old Alesi Vakalala is used to.
Within two years of work, she had some challenging times serving more than 200 villagers of Nakoro Village, within the district of Noikoro, Navosa.
Tucked away in the highlands, Ms Vakalala said transportation around the remote rural area was a challenge especially transporting the sick from their village to the nearest health centre at Nukuilau Village.
In some cases, Ms Vakalala said the sick are taken on horseback to ensure that patients under her care received the treatment from the medical professionals.
“I am originally from the village of Nukuilau, the same province, and I am married into the village of Nakoro where I live with my husband and children,” she said.
“Since being appointed as a village nurse my duty requires me to drop everything and attend to the sick in cases of emergency. I consider myself lucky in that I have a very supportive husband and in-laws who are always ready to help with my household chores when there is a call of duty.
“We live in a remote area with rough terrains and I too travel by horse to tend to the sickly in villagers at Nukuilau. For me the most challenging ones are our senior village members because they require extra care and taking care of them requires patience because of their needs.”
Last year Ms Vakalala said their village, including a few others in the Navosa Province, were declared typhoid hotspots.
“In my role as the village nurse I’ve had to raise awareness about proper sanitation to avoid the disease.
“Unfortunately, a young girl succumbed to the disease last year in the village during an outbreak and ever since then we’ve been working hard accessing help from the health ministry and non-governmental organisations to improve the standard of sanitation in the village.
“We were fortunate in that we were able to work with UNICEF in the implementation of 18 toilets in the village which were recently officially opened by the Minister for Health Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete in conjunction with this year’s World Toilet Day celebrations.
“Sanitation is something that is often taken lightly by villagers, but the repercussion of having poor facilities is often a gateway for diseases such as typhoid. Being a village nurse and a female comes with its challenges especially when voicing concerns at the village level.”
“However, I have found the strength over the years and the support from women in the village to air my thoughts when it came to village meetings. It was hard at first especially since I was not from the village of Nakoro, but people gradually understood where my concerns were coming from.
“I am proud to say that now I have the trust and support of the men in the village who assist me in my duty especially located miles away from the nearest health centre and hospital. To the other female village nurses out there my advice to them is to take their roles in their respective villages seriously as it is a calling.
“Even if people in our communities fail to appreciate what we do, I always tell myself that at the end of every day I have a higher power who sits and watches over how we carry out our calling.
“I always pray to God to give me the strength and spirit to carry out my duties diligently because it is ‘He’ who appointed me to this village to serve the sick.”
“Sometimes village nurses often get jeered by villagers.
“I take these moments as a building block in my journey and use it to strengthen me instead of dragging me down to the depths of despair.
“It is not an easy journey because people will talk at times, but to me it is about being true to oneself and believing in doing good for others.
“Eventually when people see the fruit of your labour they will learn to respect your views and to value them.”
